ccjj aNNUAL REPORT
A Message from our Executive Director
Season's Greetings Utah Justice Partners!
The year 2025 has been one filled with perseverance and grit! Our team here at the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice has made great strides in accomplishing our goals and objectives as outlined in our 2024-2027 Strategic Plan.
Beginning with another record breaking General Legislative Session, our office tracked 265 unique criminal and juvenile justice related legislation which represents 27% of all 959 publicly numbered bills!
We continued to stay busy and are proud to share that in this past year our team has facilitated 12 judgeship nominations including a supreme court justice; advanced research on prison capacity and spatial analysis of juvenile justice referral rates across Utah census tracts; distributed millions of federal and state grant dollars to crime reduction programming and victim services; connected in 3.4 billion rows of data records from criminal justice partners including the Courts, jails, arresting agencies, corrections, and prosecutors; carried out the Governor’s Executive Order on the Criminal Justice Strategy Taskforce; and implemented new responsibilities brought forth from justice policies passed by the legislature and Governor.
As we enter the new year, our agency is evolving. We are implementing structural updates to better support our expanding responsibilities, ensuring we remain a neutral, trusted partner while advancing collaborative criminal and juvenile justice policies.
Please navigate the below page to learn more about our major accomplishments!
Best Regards,
Tom Ross
$22.78 million invested in victim-related services
$7.38 million invested in indigent defense
Served the following additional areas
Treatment & Reentry
$927 K
Crime Prevention $1.4 M
Law Enforcement $2.2 M
System Diversion $2.4 M
FY 2025 Grantees Highlight
Sanpete County
In 2025, CCJJ awarded $692,000 to Sanpete County Residential Inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program. Their purpose is to decrease recidivism, create opportunities for former inmates to transition into and be a productive member of society. The program serves both male and female inmates. The funding went towards supporting the following: Substance Use Dependency Counselor, Mental Health Counselor, Program Intern, Community Health Worker, and Jail Program Sergeant. Their data shows a marked decrease in recidivism for participants in the program.
Narcotics and Major Crimes Task Force
Additionally, CCJJ awarded $1.85 million in state grant funding to 17 narcotics and major crimes task force projects throughout Utah. Along with state funding, these same task forces operate with support through the federal Rocky Mountain HIDTA grant program along with agency resources. Among the many narcotics and major crime priorities of the task forces, Fentanyl is one of the more problematic as it is both highly addictive and very deadly. In FY2025 the 17 task forces reported the seizure of more than 4.8 million Fentanyl Pills and approximately 23 (kg) of Fentanyl Powder. The majority of Fentanyl seizures reported last year come from the Utah Co. Major Crimes Task Force and the Davis Co. Metro Narcotics Task Force.
Commissioner Cheney, Commissioner Bartholomew, Sheriff Buchanan, Commissioner Bennett
Ingrid Maughn- Community Health Program Manager, RCORP Grant Program Director Intermountain Health, Cheryl Swapp- CHW, Cassie Kridelbaugh- LCSW, Program Director, Sgt. Gretchen Nunley- Jail Programming, Tonia Castro- SUDC
Manny Lucero- Business Operations Coordinator RCORP Grant Program Director Intermountain Health, Cheryl Swapp Community Health Worker Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office, Ingrid Maughn- Community Health Program Manager RCORP Program
Fentanyl pills seized by Narcotics and Major Crimes Task Force
Assisted the Governor with the appointment of twelve new judges
Supreme Court Justice Nielsen pictured with Governor Spencer Cox and Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson
Judicial nominating commissions help select candidates for judicial vacancies. There is a nominating commission for each judicial district, including the appellate courts. CCJJ staffs and manages the work of these independent commissions. In FY 2025, our office facilitated 12 judgeship nominations including a supreme court justice!
Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission
GRIT PROJECT UPDATE
As part of JPEC's ongoing efforts to improve data access, transparency, and operational efficiency, JPEC will develop a dedicated judge portal within their Salesforce system. This new portal will allow judges to securely access their completed midterm and retention evaluation reports, as well as historical data, all in one place. This project aligns well with the goals of the GRIT initiative and will provide lasting benefits to both JPEC and the judiciary.
Led Executive Order 2025-02
The "Enhancing Utah's Criminal Justice Strategy" Executive Order and HB 353, created a task force to assist criminal justice efforts in Utah and requires certain state agencies to review criminal offenses contained in statutes.
The Task Force held four meetings to accomplish its two goals: create a criminal justice framework delivered to the Governor and the Legislature before October 1, 2025 and create a framework to complete the criminal offense review. State agencies will be required to report back to CCJJ by July 1, 2026.
The Task Force presented their report to the Governor, Legislature, and the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee which included: their statement on principles of effective criminal justice policy, three processes in which to achieve better and more consistent criminal justice policy, and proposed framework for the state agency review of their respective statutes. These were accepted by those leaders and CCJJ will be educating state agencies on its statutory review and collecting such reports.
Criminal Justice Research
This year, our Quantitative Research Team expanded its impact across the justice system. We developed a prison projection data tool for the Department of Corrections, released an Senate Bill 213 report on habitual offenders to help break the cycle of reincarceration, and revisited prison length of stay to guide cost-conscious policy—work now expanding to other agencies.
Juvenile Justice Research
We also launched the Juvenile Justice Statewide Geospatial Study to support delinquency prevention and strengthen community protective factors across Utah. Using court referral rates and hot spot analysis to pinpoint priority neighborhoods, we're now collaborating with local criminal justice coordinating councils across the state to build place-based response systems driven by data and community engagement.
The Public Safety Portal is LIVE!
Indigent Defense Commission
The Utah State Legislature created the Indigent Defense Commission (IDC) in 2016. IDC continues to fulfill their mission to protect constitutionally guaranteed liberties through ongoing support for effective indigent defense services throughout the state.
Utah Office of Victims of Crime
Established in 1986, the mission of the Utah Office for Victims of Crime is to advocate for the rights and needs of crime victims in Utah by assisting in their restoration through financial compensation and other victim services. Learn more about their 2025 highlights.
Victim Services Commission
The Victim Services Commission was established in 2023. The 2024-2025 reporting year encompasses the second year of the VSC’s evolution. Great effort has gone into continuing to shore up a solid foundation through stakeholder input and support. Learn more with their annual report.
Prosecutor Conduct Commission
Following the passage of Senate Bill 318 in the 2025 General Session, the Prosecutor Conduct Commission (PCC) was established within the CCJJ. The summary provides an update on the progress being made in creating the legislatively mandated PCC as well as its processes and procedures.
Sentencing Commission
The Sentencing Commission was established in 1993. The following summary webpage highlights the 2025 accomplishments which includes the Adult Sentencing, Release, and Supervision Guidelines.
Criminal Justice
This annual update of criminal justice policies builds on reports from previous years, with an emphasis on presenting data consistent with the original goals of the package of policies passed in 2015.
Juvenile Justice
This ninth annual report provides an update on juvenile justice policies that were passed in 2017 and subsequent years. Previous years reporting were in Fiscal Year. The data represented in this report reflects Calendar Year 2024.
Legislative Session
This summary report serves to provide a general overview of legislation that may have a direct or ancillary impact on the criminal and juvenile justice system that passed during the 2025 General Session.
DUI in Utah
The 23rd Annual DUI Report to the Utah Legislature was prepared in accordance with §41-6a-511 . The statute requires CCJJ to prepare an annual report of DUI related data.